No ban on cow slaughter in Northeast, says BJP

Guwahati: After their success in Assam and Manipur, the BJP has embarked upon an ambitious plan to make inroad in Christian-dominated frontier state of Meghalaya in 2018.

Terming Meghalaya as worst-performing state of Northeast, Assam finance minister and convenor of Northeast Democratic Alliance Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the BJP has not banned cow slaughter though it is in power in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur.

He also added that the BJP encourages learning of local languages in schools and clarified that there is no move to impose learning of Hindi.

Launching a frontal attack on Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma, who turned 52 on Thursday, Mr Sarma, predicted that Mr Sangma would lose in Ampati constituency. He has been winning from Ampati, his home turf, since the 1993 Assembly polls. Mr Sarma, who was in Shillong to attend the fifth state executive committee meeting, also claimed that they are confident to form BJP government in the state in 2018.

Indicating that the BJP was preparing to contest in all the 60 Assembly seats, Mr Sarma said, “We are of view that Meghalaya has a very unpopular government. Meghalaya has not seen the kind of development, which the people of the state deserve. Therefore, in order to make Meghalaya a front-ranking state there should be a government which would be ready to implement Modi’s vision both in letter and spirit.”

Election to the 60-member Assembly was scheduled to take place in February-March 2018. Though, Mr Sarma was confident to win Meghalaya on its own strength, the BJP has also started roping in anti-Congress forces in the state.